Thursday, August 12, 2010

? basement flooding in Bloomingdale ?

The following two Emails were received this morning.

From a resident on 1st Street NW near S Street NW:


Our sewer backed up and flooded our basement during the storm, any other reports of flooding?

From a resident on the north side of the 100 block of U Street NW between Flagler & 2nd Street NW:

I just wanted to let you know I experienced some minor drain backups during the intense rains this morning. The outdoor drains at the front and rear of my basement backed up. Also, the laundry wash tub had some backup sediment in it as well.

I find this odd, as in the past when this neighborhood has flooded, the drain backups didn`t occur until the street actually started to flood. Seems like the opposite case this time.

Hope everyone else faired OK and didn`t get heavily flooded.

Flooding update.

While doing some cleanup in the front yard I noticed strange debris patterns on the sidewalk and tree lawn. It is apparent that the sewers at the corner of U St and Flagler NW did indeed get overwhelmed and did backup. It looks like the street started to flood as the water levels did reach the sidewalk in front off my house.

From ANC 5C04 Commissioner John Salatti:

Yes, U and Thomas NW both had significant flood issues; I suspect Rhode Island Avenue did, too. The water was lapping the first step off the sidewalk on U Street in front of many houses and on Thomas, I have heard that most basements took on water. The basement at a house on the 100 block of U Street NW, southside, was inundated and a couple of others took on some water, particularly if the homes did not have backflow preventers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backflow_prevention_device), which prevent water from coming back into the house through the basement toilets and showers. A few cars also took on water. A tree fell on Flagler lightly damaging a car. A couple of manhole covers blew out and one was broken, but WASA had it replaced by 9:00 am.


From a Thomas Street NW resident:
I did get a little bit of flooding this morning as did a number of other homes on Thomas Street NW. WASA came by and cleaned out the storm drains around 9:00 am. They also left a few sandbags for people to pick up. Notwithstanding they are filled with wet sand and weigh at least 10 pounds.

17 comments:

catherine said...

Yup basement flooding all along my side of R street (1700 block). Me, and both my neighbors got it pretty bad.

Unknown said...

Got some water in my english basement on V St NW between 1st and Flagler (north side). It doesn't look *really* bad, but I've never had a flood, so I don't have much to compare it with.

Kari said...

Unit block of Quincy NW: the back bedroom in my basement apartment flooded a few weeks ago, the landlord had to remove the carpet (now it's tile). This morning it started to flood at the back door with the storm, seems the drain tries hard but isn't that great.

Unknown said...

Same. English basement on 100 block of U St. that still has some standing water in some of the rooms.

Sergey said...

basement flooded on florida ave.

Joy said...

basement flooded on 100 block of R St, NW, same with neighbors on both sides. came in the front and back doors (drains bubbling up), and up into the tub. this was much worse than the flood we had in May 2009.

Brian said...

Our basement flooded on the 100 block of Randolph PL NW. Water came up through the bathtub and toilet.

Any good deals on towels?

Jaime said...

My basement apartment flooded on the unit block of Seaton. Boo!

Jeanine said...

Our fourth floor toilet and tub backed up with sediment and water streaming everywhere on the 1800 block of 1st Street! I'm not sure if this is as a result of city drain backups or not, but the fact that it may have reached all the way up to the fourth storey is astounding.

TheCommiss said...

all the more reason to pressure the city to use pervious concrete in ally and walkways to help reduce the follow of water into the combined sewer system!

Amy said...

I'm at work, but our land management company just contacted me to let me know our place at 2nd and Rhode Island is flooded.

Amy said...

amendment to my above post - 2nd and rhode island NW, not to be confused with our neighbors four blocks away who are hopefully flood free : )

Anonymous said...

haarp

Anonymous said...

Horrific, disgusting sewage backup through tub and toilet and spread throughout english basement on Thomas. I'm in a hotel.

Anonymous said...

Minor flooding in basement in 100 block of Randolph PL. Think it came in through front basement door, either from backed up drain under porch or from water running over front of porch roof and down the steps.

Anonymous said...

Ok at what point do we state the obvious - DCWASA needs to finally pony up and change the main lines in the area. The unique part about bloomingdale is it's position as the basin of 4 hills (use a GPS to verify) - First st and RI ave making up the hills. We've gone through this problem countless times in the last 8 years that I've lived here and each time we've had an "emergency meeting" we get the same runaround from WASA - who claims it's just a matter of keeping the drains clear.
What's different about the situation this time around is that bloomingdale's real estate values have gone up considerably in the last decade. With these higher prices come higher expectations. Having said that, I certainly hope we don't just repair the damages ourselves and just hope it doesn't happen again. Time has shown us this will happen again and again unless something is done to change the fact that our main sewer lines were not designed to handle that much water. We need honest solutions to the problem and a definite timeline of implementation - whether it be installing backflow preventers in every household or expanding the sewer lines to meet the unique challe he's that face bloomingdale - and we need it now.
Hopefully someday we'll be able to enjoy a good downpour without worrying whether or not our basements will be floo

Jenifer said...

I live on Adams NW and I'm seeing water and mold in my basement that I never saw before. I think the ground has just so much water in it that it has seeped up. I've wiped the mold with bleach and hope the area dries up. Any other tips on how to deal with residue from too much water?